A hybrid, nonlinear programming approach for optimizing passive shimming in MRI.

Background: In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), maintaining a highly uniform main magnetic field (B) is essential for producing detailed images of human anatomy. Passive shimming (PS) is a technique used to enhance B uniformity by strategically arranging shimming iron pieces inside the magnet bore. Traditionally, PS optimization has been implemented using linear programming (LP), posing challenges in balancing field quality with the quantity of iron used for shimming.

Activation of SIRT3 by Tanshinone IIA ameliorates renal fibrosis by suppressing the TGF-β/TSP-1 pathway and attenuating oxidative stress.

Although doxorubicin (DOX) is a common chemotherapeutic drug, the serious nephrotoxicity caused by DOX-induced renal fibrosis remains a considerable clinical problem. Tanshinone IIA (Tan IIA), a compound extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza, has been reported to have an anti-fibrotic effect. Therefore, this study investigated the molecular pathway whereby Tan IIA protects the kidneys from DOX administration.

Glucosamine sulfate-loaded nanofiber reinforced carboxymethyl chitosan sponge for articular cartilage restoration.

Cartilage is severely limited in self-repair after damage, and tissue engineering scaffold transplantation is considered the most promising strategy for cartilage regeneration. However, scaffolds without cells and growth factors, which can effectively avoid long cell culture times, high risk of infection, and susceptibility to contamination, remain scarce. Hence, we developed a cell- and growth factor-dual free hierarchically structured nanofibrous sponge to mimic the extracellular matrix, in which the encapsulated core-shell nanofibers served both as mechanical supports and as long-lasting carriers for bioactive biomass molecules (glucosamine sulfate).

Combined use of niraparib enhanced the inhibitory effect of Anti-GD2 antibody on osteosarcoma cells.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the effect of Niraparib in combination with an Anti-GD2 Antibody on osteosarcoma cells.

Methods: Scratch test was utilized to assess cell migration capacity, while the Transwell experiment was utilized to evaluate cell invasion potential. Cell proliferation was measured using the CCK8 experiment.

Puncture and Drainage Surgery for Intracerebral Hemorrhage Guided by 3D Printing Puncture Guide Plate.

Objectives: Accurate puncture is the key to ensure the effect of puncture and drainage surgery for intracerebral hemorrhage. It usually uses CT to guide the drainage tube to reach the center of the hematoma cavity, which has the problems of inaccurate positioning using 2D images and high requirements for surgeon's experience in brain anatomy and imaging diagnosis. The aim of this study was to use a 3D printing puncture guide plate to guide the puncture and drainage surgery for intracerebral hemorrhage.

Predicting the Progress of Tuberculosis by Inflammatory Response-Related Genes Based on Multiple Machine Learning Comprehensive Analysis.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB), caused by the bacterium , affects approximately one-quarter of the global population and is considered one of the most lethal infectious diseases worldwide. The prevention of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) from progressing into active tuberculosis (ATB) is crucial for controlling and eradicating TB. Unfortunately, currently available biomarkers have limited effectiveness in identifying subpopulations that are at risk of developing ATB.

Evaluation of kasugamycin as a chiral selector in capillary electrophoresis.

The discovery of novel chiral selectors always fascinates us. This work describes the chiral separation performances of a new chiral selector (kasugamycin, KAS) in capillary electrophoresis (CE) for six pairs of stereoisomers, including ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, quinine and quinidine, cinchonine and cinchonidine, and amlodipine, promethazine and ofloxacin enantiomers. Kasugamycin, an aminoglycoside antibiotic in agriculture, shows significant biological activity against rice blast with low toxicity.

Ultra-wideband flexible radar-infrared bi-stealth absorber based on a patterned graphene.

In this work, an ultra-wideband flexible radar absorber with low infrared emissivity for a radar-infrared bi-stealth application utilizing multilayer patterned graphene is proposed. The proposed absorber consists of three layers of graphene films with different patterns, flexible substrates, lightweight foam, and a ground layer. The flexible graphene films, rather than the conventional lumped resistors, are adopted as omnidirectional resistors to achieve dual polarization and flexibility.

Production and Anti-Inflammatory Performance of PVA Hydrogels Loaded with Curcumin Encapsulated in Octenyl Succinic Anhydride Modified Schizophyllan as Wound Dressings.

Amphiphilic polysaccharides can be used as wall materials and applied to encapsulate hydrophobic active chemicals; moreover, there is significant demand for novel medical high-molecular-weight materials with various functions. In order to prepare amphiphilic schizophyllan (SPG), octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA) was chosen to synthesize OSA-modified schizophyllan (OSSPG) using an esterified reaction. The modification of OSSPG was demonstrated through FT-IR and thermal analysis.

Deep Learning in Ischemic Stroke Imaging Analysis: A Comprehensive Review.

Ischemic stroke is a cerebrovascular disease with a high morbidity and mortality rate, which poses a serious challenge to human health and life. Meanwhile, the management of ischemic stroke remains highly dependent on manual visual analysis of noncontrast computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, artifacts and noise of the equipment as well as the radiologist experience play a significant role on diagnostic accuracy.

Application of Diffusion Tensor Imaging Based on Automatic Fiber Quantification in Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Neuroimaging suggests that white matter microstructure is severely affected in Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression. However, whether alterations in white matter microstructure are confined to specific regions and whether they can be used as potential biomarkers to distinguish normal control (NC) from AD are unknown.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 33 cases of AD and 25 cases of NC were recruited for automatic fiber quantification (AFQ).

Putting Families at the Center: the Role of Family System in Employee Work-Family Conflict and Voice Behavior.

Work-family conflict has become one of the most prominent challenges of modern-day work and a prominent research topic. However, the "family" in the work-family interface has been undertheorized, while research focuses on the workplace factors and individual characteristics in relation to work-family conflict (WFC). Placing the family at the center of theorizing, we adopt the Contextual Model of Family Stress (CMFS) as an overarching framework, which conceptualizes the family as a complex system comprising the family members, the environment in which they are situated, and their interactions with the environment and with one another.

Why do followers feel inauthentic and withdraw? The joint effect of leader Machiavellianism and perceived collectivistic work climate.

Objective: Although past research has shown the negative consequences of state inauthenticity (i.e., the experience of inauthenticity), what triggers state inauthenticity remains to be better understood.

Brain network analyses of diffusion tensor imaging for brain aging.

The approach of graph-based diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) networks has been used to explore the complicated structural connectivity of brain aging. In this study, the changes of DTI networks of brain aging were quantitatively and qualitatively investigated by comparing the characteristics of brain network. A cohort of 60 volunteers was enrolled and equally divided into young adults (YA) and older adults (OA) groups.

Super-hydrophobic Cellulose Nanofiber Air Filter with Highly Efficient Filtration and Humidity Resistance.

High-air humidity, especially condensation into droplets under the influence of temperature, can pose a serious threat to air purification filters. This report introduces the use of methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) for the silanization hydrophobic modification of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) and obtains an air filter with super-hydrophobicity (CA = 152.4°) and high-efficiency filtration of particulate matter (PM) through the freeze-drying technology.

A robust automated surface-matching registration method for neuronavigation.

Purpose: The surface-matching registration method in the current neuronavigation completes the coarse registration mainly by manually selecting anatomical landmarks, which increases the registration time, makes the automatic registration impossible and sometimes results in mismatch. It may be more practical to use a fast, accurate, and automatic spatial registration method for the patient-to-image registration.

Methods: A coarse-to-fine spatial registration method to automatically register the patient space to the image space without placing any markers on the head of the patient was proposed.

An Automatic Spatial Registration Method for Image-Guided Neurosurgery System.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of an automatic marker-free patient-to-image spatial registration method based on the 4-points congruent sets (4PCS) and iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm for the image-guided neurosurgery system (IGNS).

Methods: A portable scanner was used to obtain the point cloud of the patient's entire head. The 4PCS algorithm, which is resilient to noise and outliers, automatically registered the point cloud in the patient space to the surface reconstructed from the patient's preoperative images in the image space without any assumptions about initial alignment.

Multimodal image registration based on binary gradient angle descriptor.

Purpose: Multimodal image registration plays an important role in image-guided interventions/therapy and atlas building, and it is still a challenging task due to the complex intensity variations in different modalities.

Methods: The paper addresses the problem and proposes a simple, compact, fast and generally applicable modality-independent binary gradient angle descriptor (BGA) based on the rationale of gradient orientation alignment. The BGA can be easily calculated at each voxel by coding the quadrant in which a local gradient vector falls, and it has an extremely low computational complexity, requiring only three convolutions, two multiplication operations and two comparison operations.

A Surface-Based Spatial Registration Method Based on Sense Three-Dimensional Scanner.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of a surface-based registration method based on a low-cost, hand-held Sense three-dimensional (3D) scanner in image-guided neurosurgery system.

Methods: The scanner was calibrated prior and fixed on a tripod before registration. During registration, a part of the head surface was scanned at first and the spatial position of the adapter was recorded.

Smaller-loss planar SPP transmission line than conventional microstrip in microwave frequencies.

Transmission line is a basic component in all passive devices, integrated circuits, and systems. Microstrip is the most popular transmission line in the microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies, and has been widely used in current electronic devices, circuits, and systems. One of the important issues to be solved in such applications is the relatively large transmission loss of microstrip.

A new markerless patient-to-image registration method using a portable 3D scanner.

Purpose: Patient-to-image registration is critical to providing surgeons with reliable guidance information in the application of image-guided neurosurgery systems. The conventional point-matching registration method, which is based on skin markers, requires expensive and time-consuming logistic support. Surface-matching registration with facial surface scans is an alternative method, but the registration accuracy is unstable and the error in the more posterior parts of the head is usually large because the scan range is limited.

Anatomical landmarks for point-matching registration in image-guided neurosurgery.

Background: Accurate patient to image registration is the core for successful image-guided neurosurgery. While skin adhesive markers (SMs) are widely used in point-matching registration, a proper implementation of anatomical landmarks (ALs) may overcome the inconvenience brought by the use of SMs.

Methods: Using nine ALs, a set of three configurations of different combinations of them is proposed.

In situ fabrication of metal-organic hybrid gels in a capillary for online enrichment of trace analytes in aqueous samples.

In this work we demonstrated a facile method for in situ fabrication of the Fe(3+)-1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid (BTC) metal-organic coordination polymer gel in a capillary, which was efficiently applied to the online enrichment of trace polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in environmental water and amphetamines drugs in urine.